BellaOnline Forums Travel and Culture Scottish Culture James VI of Scotland

Angela one of England's greatest entrepeneurs - Richard Branson who created Virgin - ia a hot air balloonist. Virgin Balloon Flights offer hot air balloon rides all over England and a few in Scotland - the furthest north is Aberdeen.

LOL, yep know him well - use to have one of his famous "prepaid" cell phones. Love them, just a little too expensive for right now. Have a "prepaid" AT&T cell phone - but I won't bore you with the drama with it, but I can say, I will NEVER get another. The virgin one was awesome until I think I lost it. This was several years ago.

Angela on this side of the pond we call cell phones mobile phones

Can't say I've ever lost one, though I did bathe one in too much water and it was never the same again...

One of the things I found interesting when I moved up to the Scottish Higlands was that in the first house I stayed in I found I had to go to one or other end of the street to get any reception at all...

LOL Asha, the same thing happens here in Columbus, Georgia (USA).

And some buildings and homes, you have to step outside to use it!!!!

And when traveling, pray you don't have an emergency because there is no guarantee you can use it if there is no transmitting towers for the company you are subscribed to in the area you are stuck in.

A lot of people I knew in the Scottish Highlands kept basic survival stuff in the boot of their car - sleeping bag, warm clothes, things to make fire with, water, food, torch, compass etc - as they knew they couldn't guarantee reception and needed to be able to get by if they got stranded in what were often freezing conditions.

Asha, this is a great article. I love history and culture. I learned many things from your article and would love to read more about James Vl. For instance, I never knew that he had commissioned the Authorised/King James Bible, which built on the work done by William Tyndale. The Tyndale Bible is one of my favorite things to read and research about.

Love this article!

Phyllis thank you for the feedback. I was lucky enough recently to work in a building at the University of Bristol that has a stained glass window dedicated to William Tyndale. It inspired me to write the article William Tyndale. I think this is a fascinating period of history and I look foward to writing more articles relating to this time on both English and Scottish Culture sites. I'd welcome ideas of things/people you'd like to know more about.

Asha, that is a good article on William Tyndale. I saw a documentary on PBS about him several years ago and became very interested in his life and efforts to get his translation of the bible printed. I would love to get a copy of that bible.

Angela you talk of not living in an area with four seasons for over three decades. Would love to know more about what you mean by this. For me I know that Scotland made me more aware of the seasons, of the earth and her cycles than I had ever been before.